Latest Ratings

In short: Enjoyed the ups and downs!In full: Did the quarter for the first time today, thoroughly enjoyed it got there in plenty of time, easy parking, picked up my number with no-one in front of me (get there early). When lots of people turn up late there are bound to be problems, can’t lay that on the organisers. Thought the organisation was excellent myself, nice medal, speedy results service, the school provided excellent facilities and all the volunteers were very cheerful and helpful.Thought the 1st mile was a bit dodgy due to close proximity of traffic, but once on the country roads, loved every minute of it. Will be back next year; hoping to do the half then, well done to all involved.

In short: Who ate all the cabbages?!!In full: If you are looking for a good honest friendly race, this is the one for you. Lovely course, great organisation, nice goody bag, well marshalled, value for money, going to a good cause. Very well done to everyone concerned.

In short: Absolute disgraceIn full: What started out to be a lovely morning and the promise of a memorable and enjoyable run, turned into an absolute nightmare, and memorable for all the wrong reasons.

Where was the water? I rang the organiser last week to voice my concerns over their decision to flout UKA rules by not providing the regulation number of water stations. I was concerned that people may struggle on (what turned out to be) a hot day and that it would be best not to leave anything to chance.

He assured me verbally that there would ‘additional water on the course’; this was confirmed in a separate email. Where was the ‘additional water’? The standard water stations ran out totally, and I certainly didn’t see any additional water.

The irony of it all is that the water was supplied by the sponsor Highland Spring, and so the sight of people scrambling around in gutters trying to get a drink was nothing short of criminal and shameful.

Another sight I won’t forget in a hurry was that of a frantic ambulance man trying to reach someone who was ill out on the course, but unable to do so because of a lack of communication with the organiser and the marshals. And where was the race organiser while this was going on? Sitting in his comfy Run Liverpool caravan, whilst everyone else tried to manage the event.

Speaking of criminal, I approached the race organiser to enquire where my t-shirt was, his response, was ‘t-shirts were not promised’ I assured him they had been advertised on the race details, some of you may recall that exactly the same thing happened at the Tunnel Run last year, it would appear that this is common with this race organiser. I pointed this out to him and his answer was ‘I will send you one’. So the question has to be, if he is able to send one, I presume then he has them? And if this is the case, why weren’t they given out at the race? My advice to everyone is, contact Run Liverpool and ask him to send yours out too.

I could go on at length about the many failings of this race, which have been highlighted by others here. I entered this race in good faith believing that with the possibility of a Marathon in 2008 on the horizon, this organisation might have finally got its act together, believing that they may use this event as a showpiece to demonstrate what they were capable of delivering, but if this is the best they can do, then forget it.

In short: Chill Out! It’s a fun event!In full: Did the run today with my nephew; a nice leisurely stroll, soaking up the brilliant atmosphere. Weather was great, which helped.

To add to the points already well made, this is a fun event not a PB potential ‘race’, the only time this becomes dangerous is when people are not in the spirit of the event and start legging it around, scattering people in their wake, and causing possible danger for other runners.

The only criticisms, were the lack of music (how hard would it be to put on a xmas cd?!) and the PA was poor, people couldn’t hear anything at the back, the fiasco at the end meant that some people were getting loads of bags and t-shirts, it was basically a free for all, I just hope that the slower finishers got something if there was anything left. Great medal, good t-shirt and a fine goody bag.

But regardless, will be back next year as it is one of the best charity events of the year, lets hope Vegas doesn’t take our record!